Abstract

Advertising the promise of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the entry exam coaching industry in India enrolls hundreds of thousands of students in classes strictly directed at ‘cracking’ the famous Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) that grant access to IITs.  Coaching classes are increasingly seen by parents and hopeful youth as a necessary prerequisite for admission and a necessary step in successful educational trajectories leading to successful lives in the knowledge economy of the much celebrated ‘New India’. Largely outside national higher educational policies, albeit closely ‘shadowing’ it, the coaching industry produces educational and policy outcomes which warrant closer examination. This talk will investigate the competing valuations and temporalities of education in the Indian education system arising from the coaching industry the role of this ‘shadow education’ sector in the formation of Indian student identities and their often global aspirations.

The event takes place at the Danish School of Education (DPU), Aarhus University, Campus Emdrup, Tuborgvej 164, 2400 Copenhagen NV in room D118. The event is also streamed at CUDiM, Paludan Müllers Vej 48, 8200 Aarhus N in room 112.